Petro Mining Restricted to Government

The Venezuelan Superintendent of Cryptocurrencies and Related Activities, Carlos Vargas, announced during a Venezolana de Televisión broadcast on Wednesday, as reported by El Universal:

The petro will not be minable but [will be] pre-mined, that is, the complete emission will be under the control of the country. In addition, it will be assigned with a procedure similar to that of an auction.

He further explained, “We will have a cryptocurrency whose verification and use in all exchange houses…will be supported under a widely known platform, which will allow the petro to be marketed anywhere in the world without major restrictions.”

Change of Plan for Miners

Since the announcement of the petro in early December, Maduro claims to have been recruiting miners all over the country to mine his new currency. He created a registry, which will remain open until January 20 for all miners in the country to sign up.

With Wednesday’s revelation that the petro will only be pre-mined, Vargas stated that the registration “is an inscription to register mining. This is a public record of the people who have mined [cryptocurrencies],” El Universal conveyed.